“The purpose of buying the property was going to serve two points,” Lucas said. “First, it was a quick turnaround project to prove to the historical society that we could take care of their properties in the area.”
“So, you botched that,” my father said.
“And two, it was supposed to give us some quick cash to…”
Fuck. I couldn't even say it.
“Boys, what’s going on?” my mother asked.
“It was supposed to give us the cash we needed to buy out you and Dad’s ten percent of Wisteria Lake Designs,” Lucas said.
I couldn’t read the look on their faces, but it didn’t make me any less nauseous. If there was one thing I hated, it was upsetting Mom and Dad. All my life, I’d wanted to make them happy. Make them proud of me. And even at thirty-six years of age, I still wanted to make sure they were proud. Make sure they were happy with what we were doing.
“You boys don’t want us as active participants in your company any longer?” my mother asked.
“It isn’t about that. We built our company in your shadow. On your reputation. We don’t want your reputation to be what keeps us afloat. We want to do that on our own,” Lucas said.
“Well, it sounds like you’re going to need our reputation to save your asses. How much money are you out?” my father asked.
“It depends on the cause of the fire,” I said.
“What do you mean by that?” my mother asked.
“The night of the fire, the firemen gave us a couple of theories that the fire marshal is still exploring. One is the electrical fire, since they’re pretty sure the fire started in the walls,” I said.
“What’s the other theory? What else could it be?” my father asked. I looked around at my brothers before I drew in a deep breath.
“Because the house burnt so quickly to the ground, the fire marshal isn’t ruling out foul play,” I said. My mother’s jaw hit the floor as my father’s back straightened.
“I want to speak with this fire marshal,” he said.
“Dad, that isn’t—”
“We’ll talk about this ‘buying us out’ stuff later. Right now, your mother and I still own ten percent of this business. You boys have done enough behind our backs. I want to speak with the fire marshal tomorrow,” he said.
“See? This is the issue. We can handle this. We’ve had a handle on it all week,” Lucas said.
“Everett didn’t take insurance out on one of the biggest properties you boys have ever worked on,” my mother said. “You don’t have a handle on it.”
“I get it. I screwed up. Trust me, I understand that. However, the umbrella insurance we have on the business as a whole will cover most of what we’ve lost if it’s an electrical fire,” I said.
“And if it’s foul play?” my father asked.
“I’m in the process of speaking to them about that. I have another phone call with them tomorrow,” Lucas said.
“I can’t believe you guys bought a property without running it by us and then didn’t take insurance out on the project. Everett, what were you thinking?” my mother asked.
“He wasn’t. That’s the point,” my father said.
“Look. I get it that it’s a crapshoot move. But what we’re wanting to do with Wisteria Lake Designs is a good idea. In fact, it was Everett’s idea, which was why he went and got his real estate license a few weeks ago,” Lucas said.
“You did what?” my father asked.
I shot Lucas a glance as the rest of my brothers sat back. I couldn't blame them for not wanting to jump in. My parents were sharks to their core. It was why their real estate business grossed millions of dollars every single year. Facing them head-on was practically a death sentence, but I knew the future trajectory of our business sat on our ability to sell this idea to them even in such dark times.
So, I cleared my throat and got to work.
“A few weeks ago, I got my real estate license. All of us specialize in one specific facet of the business while we all work together on the homes. You guys know this. But, there was no one to help conduct the sale and acquisition of the properties. That was always you and Mom,” I said.